So much has happened over the last 12 hours that it's really gotten me thinking...

Something I've noticed is that many (not all) people under 17 years old are just too childish and immature. How many people under the age of 17 have I banned over the years??? It's a lot.

18+ really sounds like a great idea, but that also presents many problems for the site. People who turn 18 are in their Senior year in high school, getting done with final exams and preparing for the next stage of their lives, either by going to college or starting work for minimum wage at McDonalds or similar.

That leaves very little time to get submissions, or even communicate with me. Many, Many, MANY people I guess have gotten so much of their lives together that I never hear from them ever again. I would name names, but that would be singling people out.

That's just one issue though...

I do realize that there are other people around that still submit to me (almost all are under 17 though...). The problem is though, how long will it last? TrainmanAlex2, Brian556, and FEC609 still submit a lot to me. TrainmanKight is also a heavy submitter, but even his time is running short. What happens when he becomes a maintainer? He'll go the way of Rich Owens, having no time to talk to me, take pictures/video, barely do anything leisurely working 24/7...

Nearly everybody over 18 has ceased talking to me. Trying to survive in this world is taking place over the site, so it's time for something to give.

What I mean to the under 17 ages on how long it will last, I'm talking about gas prices. Gas prices are too high right now. How long until gas reaches $5/gallon? I've heard even $8/gallon is possible?

I can't even railfan anymore. Flagstaff is 85-110 miles away from here, and the cost to run my '99 Volkswagen beetle out there and back will be around $100, due to the beetle getting just 18 MPG. I've rail fanned everything around my area to death. There are many other areas I want to see badly, but it would cost too much in gas to do so.

Life is just too high a cost right now to keep this hobby going any longer. I just don't see renewing the site ($10.95 for the domain, and $59.00 for the site) as a viable asset right now.

Sure, I do have a lot of information from the 102 section, as well as my signs, but that isn't worth keeping the site up either. DVD sales have dropped due to the recession, and everybody wants videos for free now, thanks to Youtube. I was trying to make a living off the site, but it just isn't happening anymore. I can't see spending $70 out of my own pocket, or anyone else's pocket for something that is going to start going from weekly updates down to how often Dan's Wigwag Site updates. It just isn't worth it anymore.

Smjh1979 wrote:I just don't see any other way. I've noticed you've stopped quite a bit due to your job, and gas over $4.00/gallon. I'm sure it's that way for nearly everyone else.

That, and when it comes to RR crossings, I've gotten pretty much everything worth getting around here over the last 6 or so years.

Chris' health took a major nose dive last year; nearly lost her in December. She's getting better, but the time demands were pretty strenuous. Between that and work with it's 1 hour each way commute, I'm pretty occupied.

That is another problem too. Just like how I've gotten so much in my area, it gets old seeing the same old stuff over and over again. How many times can I go to Wickenburg or Congress and see the same old stuff over and over again?

I would love to travel thousands of miles and see the U.S. Somehow I feel that will never happen with the way things are going with the economy nowadays.

Keep in mind that I haven't made my final decision yet, but I am about 95% certain about letting the site expire. I just want some more opinions on the matter.

I've been doing the site for nearly 12 years. I don't know what else I would do with my life, since the site took up a great deal of my time. What would I do with the MASSIVE amount of free time?

I'm still trying to answer that question to myself.

I don't want to give up the site, but I just feel that I can no longer do so with all that this country has gone through.

Sorry to see it go, but I kind of figured it would happen eventually. I've got all those pictures from the Milwaukee area that I never submitted. Mike & I never really crossed paths on Yahoo! messenger the last few months.